Plin, ‘Modern Italian’ Restaurant, Comes to Valencia

Walking through the tall glass doors of Plin, I immediately feel out of place. I’m the only man in a roomful of better-dressed and older (but not old) women, all of whom likely know more (read: anything whatsoever) about food than I do.

Plin, the new Italian seafood restaurant by Alexander Alioto, seeks to give patrons a new experience of eating morsel-sized bites of food paired with excellent wines. Photo by Joe Rivano Barros.

They have attended dozens of these receptions. This is my first.

The event is a media preview for Plin, the new Italian seafood restaurant at 280 Valencia Street by chef Alexander Alioto, of the Alioto family. He opened Seven Hills in 2011 and worked at the family’s Alioto’s before that. A quick search reveals his bona fides: Seven Hills was ranked the top Italian restaurant of the Bay by Zagat in 2013, and foodies adore Alioto’s raviolo al uovo — a large pasta pocket of spinach, ricotta, and egg yolk — which (thank god) appears on Plin’s menu.